costadinos
Printer Guru
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2012
- Messages
- 273
- Reaction score
- 98
- Points
- 111
- Location
- Cyprus
- Printer Model
- 7900, 4900, 9890, R2000, P50
I decided to run a comparative dye ink sunlight fade test a few weeks ago. I had been looking around for similar tests, couldn't find much, so I thought I should share the results for those interested.
I printed the same test image and some Black, Yellow, Cyan and Magenta patches using 4 different dye inksets on 5 different papers.
Printed with either the 1400 or the P50, both using 6-colour inks.
OCP, Image Specialists, Ink Republic and the ink sold by CityInkExpress (which they call "fotorite") were tested.
I used the following five papers:
1) Epson Premium Glossy 250gsm
2) Epson Archival Matte
3) Sihl Premium Glossy 280gsm
4) A very cheap paper sold on ebay under the name Sumvision Premium Glossy 260gsm
5) Another very cheap 260gsm paper sold on Amazon.
Custom profiles were used for most combinations (for those I didn't make a profile I used one that gave similar results, the original prints were virtually indistinguishable regarding colors, shadow details etc).
One set of prints was scanned after printing and stored in a dark place, the other set was placed indoors on the back of a window. Those were exposed to direct sunlight for over 8 hours a day. After one month the test prints were scanned again using the same scanner exposure settings.
And here are the results:
Sumvision Premium Glossy 260gsm:
Cheap Amazon 260gsm:
Epson Premium Glossy:
Epson Archival Matte:
Sihl Premium 280gsm:
And here is a print made with OEM Claria inks and one with OCP/IS pigment inks:
What is clearly obvious is that none of the above paper/ink combinations were acceptable after only one month in the sun.
Also, the paper did make a difference on the fade resistance of the ink. Both the very cheap papers faded horribly in comparison with those from Epson.
Overall, the best combination was the OCP ink on the Epson Premium Glossy paper.
One observation; the OCP dyes fade very similarly to the IR dyes, with the magentas apparently being the weakest color.
Fotorite's and IS's magentas seem stronger than the rest. Black and Cyan is the best overall in the OCP and IR inksets. Yellows are similar between the four. Fotorite black is very weak, with strong color shifts towards red on all papers.
As for the OEM Claria ink, although the print does show noticeable fade, this is much much less than the third party inks. In fact, that was the only print I would consider acceptable.
Lastly, the print made with the pigment inks showed no detectable signs of fading whatsoever.
I printed the same test image and some Black, Yellow, Cyan and Magenta patches using 4 different dye inksets on 5 different papers.
Printed with either the 1400 or the P50, both using 6-colour inks.
OCP, Image Specialists, Ink Republic and the ink sold by CityInkExpress (which they call "fotorite") were tested.
I used the following five papers:
1) Epson Premium Glossy 250gsm
2) Epson Archival Matte
3) Sihl Premium Glossy 280gsm
4) A very cheap paper sold on ebay under the name Sumvision Premium Glossy 260gsm
5) Another very cheap 260gsm paper sold on Amazon.
Custom profiles were used for most combinations (for those I didn't make a profile I used one that gave similar results, the original prints were virtually indistinguishable regarding colors, shadow details etc).
One set of prints was scanned after printing and stored in a dark place, the other set was placed indoors on the back of a window. Those were exposed to direct sunlight for over 8 hours a day. After one month the test prints were scanned again using the same scanner exposure settings.
And here are the results:
Sumvision Premium Glossy 260gsm:
![sumvision.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg703%2F5492%2Fsumvision.jpg&hash=86c44cebb073af45f08decbd63f53c8f)
Cheap Amazon 260gsm:
![260go.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg834%2F3580%2F260go.jpg&hash=91628af587ac75ccdb4f8be452788f4b)
Epson Premium Glossy:
![epsonpremiumglossy.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg13%2F5062%2Fepsonpremiumglossy.jpg&hash=1ea50783e1a93c3ca9eab853bacafaf8)
Epson Archival Matte:
![epsonarchivalmatte.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg836%2F5875%2Fepsonarchivalmatte.jpg&hash=7dc47d176f5dde462afb4ac9953051ca)
Sihl Premium 280gsm:
![sihl280g.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg827%2F7100%2Fsihl280g.jpg&hash=0e1cb743aea25e35ba50936d85cda7d7)
And here is a print made with OEM Claria inks and one with OCP/IS pigment inks:
![clariapigment.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg402%2F7949%2Fclariapigment.jpg&hash=e0ca92df7cc705328a86f0ef84eff301)
What is clearly obvious is that none of the above paper/ink combinations were acceptable after only one month in the sun.
Also, the paper did make a difference on the fade resistance of the ink. Both the very cheap papers faded horribly in comparison with those from Epson.
Overall, the best combination was the OCP ink on the Epson Premium Glossy paper.
One observation; the OCP dyes fade very similarly to the IR dyes, with the magentas apparently being the weakest color.
Fotorite's and IS's magentas seem stronger than the rest. Black and Cyan is the best overall in the OCP and IR inksets. Yellows are similar between the four. Fotorite black is very weak, with strong color shifts towards red on all papers.
As for the OEM Claria ink, although the print does show noticeable fade, this is much much less than the third party inks. In fact, that was the only print I would consider acceptable.
Lastly, the print made with the pigment inks showed no detectable signs of fading whatsoever.